Daily Archives: February 13, 2012
Valentine’s Giveaway: Staying in Love and $100 AMEX Gift Card
Last night, my wife and I went out to a valentine’s dinner with our small group to a local place called Mangiamo. We were serenaded by an accordionist named Mike to some Italian and French tunes, had wonderful food, and great conversation. Kate and I have been married 10 years this coming June and have weathered our fair share of storms, but through it all we have stayed friends and stayed in love.
In honor of the holiday who’s mascot is the chubby cherub, we are going to do a giveaway for curriculum pack (1 DVD and 2 Participant’s Guides) of Staying in Love by Andy Stanley, and a $100 American Express gift card. This way you and your spouse can come together and learn from pastor Andy Stanley how to stay in love once you fall in love, and go out together for a lovely date night (babysitting not provided, sorry).
My wife and I went through the Staying in Love curriculum about 18 months ago and found it quite helpful. Here is a short clip from session two about treating one another with respect and as the most valuable person in the world followed by a quote from the participant’s guide:
While falling in love only requires a pulse, staying in love requires a plan. Do you have one? Most of us don’t, so we can be grateful the Bible offers a set of helpful guidelines for exactly such a plan. It’s the kind of strategy that requires something from us every day, something that touches on all our decisions and attitudes and actions. It may also require some radical new ways of thinking about yourself and about your spouse.
Okay, to win the Staying in Love curriculum pack with $100 American Express gift card, just answer this question in the comments below. On Tuesday we will pick a random comment as the winner.
Think about the marriages of people you know best. What elements contributed to lasting, long-term marriages?
UPDATE: winner will be chosen at 8 AM EST February 15. Come back to see if you won!
How Do You Teach Someone the Bible if They Don’t Like to Read?
If you’re unfamiliar with Mickey Maudlin, he wears many hats at HarperOne, one of which is “executive editor.” He writes a newsletter (it’s monthly, I think) called “News and Pews” that I enjoy reading whenever it pops into my inbox.
His article from last month, “Books and the Communion of the Saints,” begins with this paragraph. I’ve underlined the sentences that jumped out at me the most:
“Books are the communion of saints. I am sure there are mystical non-book-based realities to our fellowship with past believers, but mostly we know about those who have gone before us through their books. I have tried to imagine what I would know about God and the Christian life if I was forced to forsake books and was limited to the people I have personally encountered, but it is impossible. I began my Christian life by reading—reading C. S. Lewis and John Stott at first; soon I was introduced to Tozer, Nouwen, Merton, Buechner, Peterson, Foster, and Willard. Without their stories, advice, and teachings, I fear I would have run aground spiritually, having never left the shallows and cast out upon the deeper waters.”
I resonate with these lines. It’s like Mickey was writing about my own spiritual journey. But he’s also tugged on a thread in my mind that’s been nagging at me.
How do we effectively minister to non-readers?
